AN
OPINION IN TIMES OF WAR
Years
ago the Australian government embraced
what they called multicultural policies. One had to be politically
correct I guess (just another word for fake nice) —
and when you ask (Anglo-Saxon) Australians today, the answer is often,
“Yeah, sure, multiculturalism is great, we didn’t have this
many ethnic restaurants ten or twenty years ago”.
Is
this all there is to it? Does multiculturalism just stand for ‘many
cuisines’? Would it not be time to reconsider and evolve from
multiculturalism to interculturalism and into a cosmopolitan society?
There
is really no point in living in one country made out of a mosaic of
little ethnic pockets (or colonies). There is an unwanted war in Iraq
and yet a great many Australians have no clue about the Muslim community
in our own backyard. There has hardly been any interaction —
and if we don’t build bridges between cultures soon this will
eventually backfire.
The
modern world as we know it is changing. We are not migrating into
a New World (like the Americas or Australia) from Asia or Europe any
more. Modern day nomads are merely relocating. The days of the settlers
are long gone, what was ‘new’ in this world is now more
than two hundred years old in European terms of history. And yet there
are Australians amongst us who cannot speak English — and many
more who only ever managed to learn broken English because their native
tongue seems sufficient. Why?
Multiculturalism
allows migrants and refugees to stay within the ‘borders’
of their ethnic community and form an alien nucleus inside our society.
Take a ride in the lift in any inner city apartment building and you’d
think you’re in Asia. No-one bothers speaking the national language
of Australia.
At
this point one thing should be made absolutely clear — anti-multiculturalism
is NOT racist. On the contrary! I am a great friend of a multiracial
society. A look at my circle of friends is proof enough. However,
it will take time and a lot of convincing to manifest the difference.
My
vision of interculturalism is a strong and positive one: on choosing
this (or any other) country we need to accept its existing culture
and speak its language.
- We
need to combine the best of both worlds. We need to communicate,
and we need to be tolerant of the ‘Other’. We need to
learn from one another.
- We
need no local ethnic media or publishing; we should rather import
more international newspapers, books in foreign languages, subtitled
movies and so forth.
- We
are not a Christian people, but neither do we want to follow the
Islamic faith or any other religion for that matter. One’s
beliefs are entirely one’s personal business.
Through
our choice to live in a western country, we have to leave some perhaps
too orthodox values behind. All cultures need to adjust a little when
sharing this country (and this world), while at the same time appreciating
their history and finding common grounds for the future.
It’s
possible, as many examples have already demonstrated. But we can only
live together in harmony if we ALL try making it a better, more humane
world: representatives of ethnic communities, religious groups and
yes, white Anglo-Saxon Australians including.
Gerald
Ganglbauer
2 April 2003